Textile printing method

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for printing yarn. The method includes the steps of withdrawing yarn from a yarn supply and printing on such yarn, and including the steps of inserting an index yarn among the sheet of yarns and printing a regularly recurring pattern on the index yarn.

United States Patent [191 Crawford Oct. 2, 1973 [54] TEXTILE PRINTINGMETHOD 3,227,077 1/1966 Farrer et al 68/203 X 3,62l,780 ll/l97lTillotson v 68/203 X [75] Invent Allan P 3,541,958 ll/l970 Keown 68/203x 3,503,232 3 1970 Farrer et al 7. 68/203 73 A M h I t I l Sslgnee f :gl $f FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] F] d F b 8 1971 23,428 2/l93lNetherlands 68/202 re e [21] Appl' l13757 Primary ExaminerWilliam I.Price Related U.S. Application Data A n y-J eph P. Flanagan [62]Division of Ser. No. 684,055, Nov. 17, 1967, Pat. No.

[57] ABSTRACT 1 0; The invention relates to a method for printing yarn.[58] Fie'ld 8/149 1 4 3 I51 The method includes the steps of withdrawingyarn 68/206 b from a yarn supply and printing on such yarn, andincluding the steps of inserting an index yarn among the ReferencesCited sheet of yarns and printing a regularly recurring pattern 7 on theindex arn. UNITED STATES PATENTS y 747,306 12/1903 Keefer 68/202 X 2Claims, 11 Drawing Figures YARN INDEX YARN DANCING SUPPLY PRINTER)STEAMER ROLL i i A YARN PRINTER -7- DRIER EAMER PATENTED 2 975 SHEET 1BF 6 YARN INDEX YARN 'DANCING F I G I SUPPLY PRINTER sTjEAMER ROLL YARN4 D I PRINTER R ER BEAMER PATENTED BET 2 73 SHEET 2 BF '8 PATENTED 219753.762.887

SHEET a DP 6 v0. o u I (I III I O l v I 2 whm \1 O .\1 E LEM? EM!PATENTED 21975 3,762,867,

SHEET SUF 6 FIG. H.

TEXTILE PRINTING METHOD This application is a divisional of applicationSer. No. 684,055 filed Nov. 17, 1967 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,235 issuedFeb. 9, 1971.

The present invention relates to a method useful in printing textileproducts, for example, the printing of yarn for use in the manufactureof multicolored products such as floor coverings or the like. In thedescription below, 1 illustrate my invention in connection with themanufacture of tufted floor coverings where I have found the inventionto have great utility, but those skilled in the art to which theinvention pertains will appreciate that the method herein disclosed willbe quite useful in connection with operations other than the manufactureof tufted floor coverings.

In the floor coverings industry tufted textile products have madeenormous strides in replacing conventional woven fabrics during the lastfifteen years or so. Whereas in the early l950s tufted carpetrepresented less than percent ofthe total soft floor coveringsmanufactured in the United States, today tufted floor coveringsrepresent approximately ninety percent of all soft floor coveringsdomestically manufactured. The popularity of tufted carpet has been due,in large part, to the fact that the high labor costs inherent in themanufacture of conventional woven fabrics such as Wilton, Axminster,etc. are not present in a tufting operation, and, therefore, such carpetenjoys a lower price in the market place than do those carpets that weredominant in the market prior to the early 1950s.

Although tufted carpet can be mass produced at a cost substantially lessthan other types of carpet, one serious problem that has been with thetufting industry from the start is that the great flexibility in colordesign possible in carpets of the Wilton and Axminster type has not beenattainable in a tufted operation.

Those familiar with the art will appreciate the fact that in a Wilton orAxminster weaving operation several different colored yarns can be madeuse of to form any warpwise row of pile elements and any one of suchyarns can be utilized to form any single pile element, in the case of aWilton by means of the Jacquard apparatus, and in the case of anAxminster during the spool setting operation. No fully satisfactory wayhas been found, however, to allow more than a single continuous end ofyarn to be fed to a needle of a tufting machine and, as a result, thepile elements forming a warp of a tufted fabric are limited generally toa single color. There have been produced, of course, multicolored tuftedfabrics by the use of what are commonly known as space-dyed yarns. Suchfabrics, although attractive in appearance, in no way measure up to whatis desired in the way of color pattern fabrics having precise colordesign characteristics, and are, in fact, generally limited to tweedydesigns.

Additionally, in attempting to improve the design characteristics oftufted floor coverings, various inventions have been made which areadmittedly useful in improving the appearance of single color fabrics.Examples of the latter mentioned inventions will be found in variousU.S. patents including the Odenweller U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,032, theCrawford U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,033, the Crawford U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,034,the Boyles U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,441, the Rice U.S. Pat. No. 2,766,506,the Bryant et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,830, the Tillet et al. U.S. Pat.No. 2,984,540, and the Crawford U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,235. All of suchpatents, with the exception of Tillett, relate to floor coverings wherestitch placement or pile height is controlled in forming a design, whilethe Tillett patent relates to a process for dyeing a piece of carpetafter the construction of the carpet has been completed.

The primary object of this invention is the provision of a method usefulin the printing of designs on yarn.

A more specific object of this invention is the provision of a methoduseful in the production of a supply of dyed yarns wherein an index yarnmay be inserted in the supply of yarns to facilitate use thereof.

These and further objects will become apparent upon a reading of thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the instant invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the yarn printer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the yarn printer and the index yarn printer ofFIG. I.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a portion of the yarn printer and index yarnprinter of FIG. I.

FIG. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a detail view of a chain guide means.

FIG. 7 is a detail view of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 3 taken inthe direction of the arrow 7 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the steamer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the dryer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a serrated slat member taken in the directionof arrow 10 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the dancing roll of FIG. 1.

In the diagram of FIG. I a supply of yarn is fed in sheet form from ayarn bank to a printing apparatus where a predetermined design isprinted on the yarn. After leaving the printing apparatus, the sheet ofyarns has inserted into it an index yarn, the purpose of which isdisclosed below. The yarn is then steamed and dried and wound upon abeam. Each sheet of yarns filling a beam has the same pattern printed onit, for example, a lengthwise repeating pattern having a width equal tothe number of ends being fed to the printing apparatus and, say,eighteen inches in length. The number of yarn ends wound on any singlebeam may be in the range of approximately 144 ends, that is, the numberof yarn ends that would generally be sufficient to feed the needles of atufting machine capable of tufting an 18 inch wide piece of carpet.

When a plurality of beams have been filled, for example ten in the caseof fifteen foot wide goods, or eight in the case of twelve foot widegoods, individual beams of yarn are then fed simultaneously to a tuftingmachine, the speed at which the yarn from such beams is fed to thetufter being under control of apparatus actuated by a photo-electricsensing device which senses an index yarn, all as more particularlydescribed in my copending application Ser. No. 683,707, filed Nov. 16,1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,543, issued Dec. 29, 1970.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a first printing station having upper andlower sections is designated by the arrow 20. This printing stationconsists of base members 2 supported by the floor, which in turn supporta plurality of upstanding frame members 22. Mounted on the frame members22 is a plurality of sets of brackets 26, 27, and 28.. The brackets 26support a shaft 29, journaled in bearings carried by such brackets,which shaft carries a plurality of sprocket wheels 30 spaced therealong.The brackets 27 support a similarly journaled shaft 31 carrying aplurality of sprocket wheels 32. Supported in bearings carried by thebrackets 28 are two shafts 33 and 34, each of which supports a pluralityof sprocket wheels 35 and 36, respectively. An additional shaft 37 isjournaled in bearings carried by the frame members 22 and such shaftcarries a plurality of roller discs 38 spaced therealong. All of theabovementioned sprocket wheels are suitably spaced along the length ofthe shafts they are mounted on, and trained around the sprockets 32, 35,36, and 30 lying in any vertical plane is an endless chain 39 all asmore clearly shown in FIG. 3. Each such chain 39 carries a plurality ofsuitable supporting brackets thereon, and secured to such brackets areslat members 41, some or all of which have mounted along their lengthsan absorbent pad or pads 42. The endless chains 39 are driven by meansof a chain 44, FIG. 4, which may be driven by any conventional drivemeans, and which is in driving contact with a sprocket wheel 45 carriedon one end of the aforementioned shaft 34.

Suitable provisions may be made to adjust the brackets 28, vertically,to vary the force with which the pads 42 on the lower set of slats 41meet the pads carried by the upper set of slats. Carried by the brackets28 in the area between the shafts 33, 34 are suitably shaped guides 28::contoured to guide the opposed sets of pad carrying slats into contactwith others.

Supported by brackets 46 mounted on the lower portion of the framemember 22, is a dye trough 47. A rotatable shaft 48 journaled inbearings carried by the dye trough 47 extends throughout the length ofthe trough 47 and carries at one end a sprocket wheel 49. Carried bythis shaft 48 is a roller 48a. The shaft 48 is driven by an endlesschain 50 which is in contact with the sprocket wheel 49, a sprocketwheel 51 carried by the shaft 31, and a tension adjusting sprocket wheel52 carried bya shaft 53 journaled in a bearing on one of the framemembers 22. The roller 48a may be wholly or partially submerged in dyein the dye trough.

Carried on the upper portion of the frame members 22 is a second seriesof brackets 55, 56, 57, and 58 which support shafts S9, 60, 61, 62, and63, respectively. Each of the latter mentioned shafts carries a seriesof sprocket wheels spaced along its length. Two shafts, 64 and 65, arejournaled in bearings in the upper portion of frame members 22, and eachof these shafts carries a plurality of roller discs, similar to theaforementioned discs 38, therealong. Trained around the sprocketscarried by the shafts 59-63 is a chain supported set of slats similar tothe slats 41 previously mentioned, which latter set of slats is alsodriven by the chain 44 of FIG. 4. The latter mentioned slats also carryresilient pads similar to the pads 42 above mentioned. The pads on anyone set of slats are arranged as a mirror image of the pads on the otherset of slats in order that, as yarn passes between the opposed slats, asdescribed below, such yarn will come into contact with opposed resilientpads.

A dye trough 66 similar to the dye trough 47 is carried by frame members67 which are, in turn, supported by the frame members 22. This dyetrough 66 has a roller extending throughout its length, which roller issimilar in structure and function to the roller 480 above described.

The dye trough 47 and 66 each contain a dye solution of identical color.This dye solution is continuously fed from any suitable mixing andsupply tank, not shown, to the upper dye trough. The desired level ofthe solution in the trough 66 is maintained by means of an overflowwhich is connected to the trough 47 by a hose 68. An overflow openingfrom the trough 47 is connected by an overflow line 69 to a pump 69a,which pump returns the overflow from the trough 47. through a line 70,to the mixing and supply tank, not shown.

Located to the left, in FIG. 3, of the printing apparatus abovedescribed is a yarn creel 24 from which a supply of yarn is withdrawnand fed to the printing apparatus. The yarns are drawn from the creel bya pair of feed rolls 74 and 75 carried on shafts 76 and 77,respectively, journaled in bearings in the machine framework. The feedroll 75 is driven by an endless belt 78 trained around pulleys carriedby the shaft 77 and stud 77a. The feed roll 75 drives the feed roll 74by means of a pair of intermeshing gears 79 and 79a, FIG. 2.

The pulley carried by the stud 77a has pinned to it a sprocket 77b. Thissprocket is driven by an endless chain which in turn is driven by anysuitable drive means, for example, the same means, suitably geared, thatdrives the chain 44.

Individual yarns from the creel 24 pass through tubes 80, are threadedaround guide members 81, 82 and are then trained about the feed rolls asshown in FIG. 2. The rolls 74 and 75 have a roughened surface, thefrictional contact of which with the yarns is sufficient to cause awithdrawal of the yarn from the creel 24. A slotted guide member 83,FIG. 7, is attached to brackets 83a carried by the machine framework. Asthe sheet of yarns fed by the feed rolls approaches the printingapparatus, individual yarn ends are guided by the slots in such guidemember.

The apparatus of the present invention may have as many printingstations similar to that above described as is found desirable, thenumber of printing stations being determined by the number of colors andintricacies of the pattern to be printed on the yarn.

Located between adjacent printing stations is a yarn feeding and guidingmechanism driven in timed relationship with the feed rolls 74, 75 andthe endless chains 39 of the printing apparatus. Each such feeding andguiding mechanism is similar to that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 andindicated by the arrow 90.

The mechanism of FIG. 3 has a first set of serrated slats 91 mounted onendless chains 92 in the manner shown in FlG. It). The chains 92 aretrained about sprocket wheels 93 mounted on a shaft 94 journaled inbearings supported by brackets 95 carried by the machine framework.These chains are also trained about guides 96, fixed to the brackets 95.

A second set of serrated slats 98, similar to the first set of slats 91,is mounted on the brackets 95 above the first set of such slats. Bothsets of slats are disposed so that if they are driven in the directionof the arrows, FIG. 2, several of the slats 91 will be in mesh withseveral of the slats 98 to grip the yarns emerging from the firstprinting station 20 and feed them to the second printing station. One orboth of the sets of slats 91 or 98 may be mounted for verticaladjustment, FIG. 3, in order to vary the degree of mesh by such slats.

The feeding of the yarn through the printing apparatus is under controlof the feed rolls 74, 75 and the intermeshing slats of the feedingmechanisms. As the yarn is fed through the various printing stations, itwill be printed on from both above and below by the opposed pads 42.From the time the yarn leaves the feed rolls 74, 75, it is moved along asubstantially horizontal path to prevent, as much as possible, anymigration of dye along the length of the yarn.

As the sheet of yarns emerges from the yarn printer, FIG. 1, and beforeit enters the steamer, an index yarn is inserted in the sheet for apurpose described below. The index yarn is a single strand of yarn whichhas an index mark printed at intervals. The leading edge of each indexmark may be spaced from the leading edge of adjacent index marks adistance equal to the length of the pattern repeat printed on the sheetof yarns by the aforementioned printing apparatus. The apparatus forprinting the index mark on the index yarn is indicated by the arrow 100,FIG. 3, and is similar to the apparatus of the first printing station,above described, except that the width of the pads utilized to print theindex yarn is of a width only sufficient to accommodate the printing ofone yarn. In the present embodiment I print the index marks on the indexyarn with a black dye, however, when a black dye, or a dye of anothersuitably dark color is used to print the pattern on the sheet of yarns,the index yarn could be printed at any of the printing stationsutilizing such a dye, thereby obviating the need, in that instance, forthe separate index yarn printing apparatus indicated by the arrow 100 inFIG. 2. As described in my aforesaid co-pending application, the indexmarks are sensed by a photocell device and the advantage of printing theindex marks with a black or other suitable dark color will beappreciated.

After the index yarn is inserted in the sheet of yarns, the sheet passesthrough a steamer and dryer where the yarn is steamed and dried and thenwound on a beam. As stated above, the yarn follows a substantiallyhorizontal path from the time it leaves the feed roll 75. As the sheetof yarns Y enters the steamer, FIG. 8, the yarn is gripped between twostainless steel mesh belts 101, 103, lined with a non-absorbent meshmaterial such as polypropylene or the like. The belts are trained aroundrollers 104 carried by shafts 1104a journaled in bearings in the steamerframework, and are driven by an endless chain 105 trained aroundsprocket wheels carried by certain of the shafts 104a and a motor M. Thenon-absorbent liner may be attached to the belts 101, 103 by anysuitable means, for example, by ties along its edges. The yarns arecarried through the steamer where the dye is set by means of steamapplied thereto through steam feed lines spaced along the length of thesteamer. Upon leaving the steamer, the yarn and belts are washed bywater fed from a supply line indicated in FIG. 8.

From the steamer the yarn is fed to a dryer, FIG. 9,

where the sheet of yarns is again gripped between a pair of porous belts107, I08 and carried therethrough in order that it may be driedpreparatory to being wound on a beam I07. From the dryer the sheet ofyarn is fed around a dancing roll to a beam on which the yarn is wound.The switches I12, 113 of the dancing roll, FIG. 11, control the on-offoperation of the beam in a manner well known in the art, that is, as thereservoir of yarn located between the rolls I15, 116 increases, the rollI17 carried by an endless chain 118 will move in a downward direction,causing the lug 120 to move upwardly. When the lug 120 contacts theswitch I13 the beam 127 will be actuated to rotate and take up thereservoir of yarn. Operation of the beam will then continue until thelug I20 moves downward a sufficient distance to actuate the switch 112and halt operation of the beam.

I mention above that each of my printing stations is capable of handlinga sheet of yarns comprising approximately one hundred forty-four ends ofyarn. The width of the apparatus above described to print, steam, dry,and beam, etc., could, of course, be varied in size to accommodate agreater number'of yarns, but suffice it to say that I have found a sheetof yarns in the above dimension to be quite convenient to handle.Additionally, although in my preferred embodiment I transfer dye fromthe various dye troughs by means of pads carried by the slats such asthe slats 41, l have found that it is possible to transfer the dye bymeans of forming a rippled surface on the flat surface of such slats,thus doing away with the pads 42.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A method of preparing a supply of printed yarn comprising the stepsof withdrawing yarn from a first yarn supply, presenting said yarn to aprinting zone, printing said yarn with a plurality of patterns,withdrawing other yarn from a second yarn supply, inserting said otheryarn among the yarn withdrawn from said first yarn supply, and printinga single regularly re curring pattern at fixed intervals on said otheryarn.

2. A method of preparing a supply of printed yarn comprising the stepsof withdrawing a sheet of yarns from a yarn supply, presenting said yarnto a first printing zone, printing said yarn on opposed sides,withdrawing said yarn from said printing zone, withdrawing other yarnfrom a second yarn supply, inserting said other yarn into said sheet ofyarns, presenting said sheet of yarns to a second printing zone,printing said other yarn on opposed sides, presenting said yarns to asteaming zone, steaming said yarns, withdrawing said yarns from saidsteaming zone, presenting said yarns to a drying zone, drying saidyarns, and winding all of said yarns on a carrier.

2. A method of preparing a supply of printed yarn comprising the stepsof withdrawing a sheet of yarns from a yarn supply, presenting said yarnto a first printing zone, printing said yarn on opposed sides,withdrawing said yarn from said printing zone, withdrawing other yarnfrom a second yarn supply, inserting said other yarn into said sheet ofyarns, presenting said sheet of yarns to a second printing zone,printing said other yarn on opposed sides, presenting said yarns to asteaming zone, steaming said yarns, withdrawing said yarns from saidsteaming zone, presenting said yarns to a drying zone, drying saidyarns, and winding all of said yarns on a carrier.